17 January 2012, Duékoué, Western Côte d’Ivoire: UN OCHA Catherine Bragg meets people at Nahibly to address the urgent need for rehabilitation and reconstruction of homes in the village. Credit: OCHA/ Kayode Egbeleye

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg urged donors to keep helping hundreds of thousands of Ivorians still displaced by post-election violence from late 2010.

“Assistance to the most vulnerable persons remains an absolute priority, especially in the country’s western and south-western regions,” said Ms. Bragg, at the end of a 3-day visit to the west African country. “It is essential that financial resources are available.”

On 16 January, Ms. Bragg called for more than US$173 million in 2012, to allow UN agencies, local and international NGOs provide aid to over 3 million people.

To kick-start vital relief this year, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has just allocated $8 million for life-saving projects.

Nearly a year after the crisis, in which disputed elections led to widespread violence across the country, more than 186,000 Ivorians remain displaced inside Côte d’Ivoire, and over 160,000 others are refugees in neighbouring countries. At the peak of the crisis last year, about a million people were internally displaced, and there were 200,000 Ivorian refugees in 13 countries, but improving security in 2011 made it possible for many of them to return to their villages.

They now need help rebuilding their homes and lives. “We need to make sure that the basic needs of people living in those villages are met. We need to help them rebuild homes and buildings,” said Ms. Bragg.

Yesterday, she met with Ivorians who had recently returned to their villages in Blolequin, western Côte d’Ivoire. She also saw first-hand the situation in a camp for the internally displaced in Duekoué hosting more than 4,500 Ivorians.